


Season One: Romantic StyleZ

by rileyhart



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M, a season one au i guess??, a what if, lil bit of angst, lil bit of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9658556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileyhart/pseuds/rileyhart
Summary: Jake would be lying if he’d said that he didn’t feel something for Amy other than mutual annoyance and grudging respect. There definitely was something between them, he’d felt it over the years, but what that particular something was he couldn’t tell you—until the night of Captain Holt’s party.It would also be a lie to say he hadn't noticed Amy's attractiveness over the years, at the start of their partnership it had just been another source of annoyance, because of course she had to be hot as well as being super smart and good at police work.But seeing her in that red dress, he was blown away with just how truly beautiful she was.





	1. The Party

Jake would be lying if he’d said that he didn’t feel _something_ for Amy other than mutual annoyance and grudging respect. There definitely was _something_ between them, he’d felt it over the years, never stronger than the night of their ‘date’, but what that particular something was he couldn’t tell you—until the night of Captain Holt’s party.

It would also be a lie to say he hadn't noticed Amy's attractiveness over the years, at the start of their partnership it had just been another source of annoyance, because _of course_ she had to be hot as well as being super smart and good at police work.

But seeing her in that red dress, he was blown away with just how truly beautiful she was.

“What?” Amy asked him, looking bewildered as she caught him looking at her. They were standing at the back of the group, feeling alone despite being surrounded by many other guests.

“Nothing, I just…” he trails off before composing himself—reverting to teasing her with a smirk—“I think that dress is a knockout,”

She rolls her eyes and punches him lightly in the shoulder, but her eyes sparkle and she has to compress a smile.

“You gonna tell the Captain he looks beautiful again?” Jake adds with a grin.

She shakes her head with exasperation, “Oh shut up, Peralta,” she says, a hint of playfulness in her voice, before she walks away.

“Santiago!” he calls after mockingly (a couple of guests turn to stare), “You look beautiful!”

“I swear to God, Peralta!” she yells back, without turning around, disappearing into the crowd.

He laughs to himself, the smile staying on his face long after she is gone.

It is by pure coincidence that they find themselves alone in the Captain and Kevin’s bedroom later that night—Amy there to find out as much as she can about Holt, and Jake to prove to Kevin that he is smart.

“What are you doing in here?” Jake asks in a low whisper.

“I could ask the same about you!” Amy retorts.

“I need to dig myself out of this pro-slavery hole I’ve dug with Kevin,”

Amy raises her eyebrows, “I’m not even going to ask,”

“Yeah, probably best not to,”

He runs over to one of the bedside tables and starts looking for the New Yorker; it doesn’t take him long to find it. He flicks through it, and finds the article quickly, but he looks up at Amy, who is scanning the bookshelf, more curious about her than the article. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to find out things about the Captain, so we’ll have things to talk about and he’ll like me,”

“Wouldn’t he like you more if you didn’t break the rule about coming upstairs though?” Jake points out.

“Yeah, well you always break rules and he sure seems to pay a lot of attention to you,” Amy replies.

“Paying attention to and liking are not the same thing, Ames, not even in the same league, trust me.” he tells her, standing up, and walking over.

She turns to face him. “Trust you?” she says it like a challenge, hands on hips, one eyebrow slightly raised; then her expression softens, “You’re my partner, of course I do, and you’ve probably got a—“ Amy’s cut short by a high, but sharp bark coming from the ensuite. Startled, she jumps back, bumping slightly into Jake.

He gives a small laugh, “It’s just a…” he says, ready to tease her, but stops at the expression on her face. She’s looking at him, her face soft; her eyes darting across his face, down to his lips. She leans ever so slightly in, just close enough for him to feel her breath. She hesitates, and both can feel their hearts going a million miles a second. Jake feels frozen, unable to move.

Then she kisses him.

At her touch Jake unfreezes and kisses her back enthusiastically, sliding an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. She slides an arm up his chest and around his neck. To say kissing Amy Santiago in that red dress is the best feeling ever is an understatement, an oblivion of pleasure so great washes over him, yet every part of him feels so alive.

 

* * *

 

Downstairs, Terry has finally been able to escape his conversation to go and find Jake and Amy after he saw them disappear up the stairs five or so minutes ago.

He runs quietly up the stairs and begins to search for them on the second floor.

“It says no going up stairs, how hard is that to obey?!” he mutters to himself.

He opens the door to the room he assumes is Captain Holt and Kevin’s bedroom. “Peralta? Santi—“ he starts, before spotting them, wrapped so tightly around each other. “Oh my god!”

The two jump apart, shocked by their Sargent’s sudden appearance.

Terry steps quickly into the room and shuts the door behind him. “What the hell?!” Terry scolds them in a harsh whisper. “You two came up here, into the Captain’s bedroom, to, to…” he gestures wildly at them.

“No, we came up here to do completely different things,” Amy tells him quickly, “and then I- we, uh…” she trails off, her cheeks reddening; she can’t look at either of them.

“Look, we all knew this would happen at some point, and I don’t know how long this has been happening, but it can not be happening in the Captain’s bedroom! Okay?”

The two nod their heads. “I know, we’re sorry, Sarge,” Jake apologises for the both of them.

Terry opens his mouth to say something else but before he can all three of them hear the unmistakable voices of their Captain and his husband. Their eyes widen, and Terry gestures at the ensuite and they all hurry in, shutting the door just as Holt and Kevin enter the bedroom.

Amy muffles her own squeal as she steps back and grabs onto Jake’s arm, hiding behind him, at the presence of a corgi waddling up to her. At her touch both Jake and Amy make eye contact, and jump away from each other, mortified.

“Do not. Make a sound.” Terry hisses at them in the quietest whisper, picking up Cheddar the corgi.

“Do not blow this for us,” Jake whispers to the dog.

Outside they can hear Holt and Kevin arguing about Holt inviting his colleagues to his party, something it sounds like Kevin wasn't on board with.

Amy tries desperately to hold in her sneezes, and to help her, Jake covers her mouth with a hand towel (and he notes to himself that she’s grabbed onto his forearm again), which works, until it doesn’t — she lets out a sneeze, a small, high pitched sneeze, but a sneeze all the same; Terry and Jake stare at her, eyes wide with horror.

“Santiago, are you hiding in my bathroom with my dog you’re deathly allergic too?”

Amy shares a defeated look with Jake. “No?” she says, almost hopefully.

Holt opens the door, and he and Kevin stare at the sight before them, which would be humorous to anyone else: Jake and Amy crouching together, Jake holding a towel over her face, and Terry standing next to them, a look of disconcertedness on his face, holding a very smug looking Cheddar.

“Occupied?” Jake says, in that same hopeful tone as Amy before.

“What... on earth... are you doing, detectives?!” Holt demands, his voice rising with each word, pausing between them enough just to make Amy quake in her shoes.

“Captain, I can explain,” Amy replies quickly, standing up straighter; her hand falling away from Jake’s arm.

“Well go ahead, detective, I would like to hear this,” he folds his arms sternly.

Amy opens her mouth but no words come out, instead a strange strangled noise comes out, and Jake has to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing.

“Hmm, just as I suspected,” Holt muses, and Amy looks down at her feet, her cheeks reddening; Holt turns to Jake, “Peralta? Do you have an explanation?”

“I, uh, needed to go to the bathroom, and the downstairs one was occupied,” Jake lies in an unconvincing tone.

“And you couldn’t have just waited?”

“I had diarrhoea from those fancy shrimp, it would’ve been all over everyone if I’d waited downstairs,”

“Then why did you feel the need to bring Santiago and Jeffords with you?”

“Well, in case I fainted,” Jake responds without missing a beat.

“In case you… fainted?” Holt asks, disbelieved etched into his stony tone.

“Yeah, y’know, from all the... poop projecting out of my buuuutt,” his voice drops on the last word, and he grins widely at Holt’s disapproving face; Kevin snorts and mutters ‘good people’.

“Jeffords?” Holt asks, “I trust you have an actual explanation for me.”

“Santiago wanted to get to know you better so she could connect with you,” Terry tells him, and Amy goes even redder, looking from her feet to the ceiling, “and Peralta was looking for the article of the New Yorker to talk about with Kevin, because he only actually read about three lines of it when he was at the dentist,” Terry glares at both Amy and Jake, who he of course he believes he is covering for with the most likely story, which he is in a way, yet he is also, technically, telling the truth, “and I came up here to stop them."

“Well that does seem to be the most likely story out of the three, not that, uh, Santiago’s was really a story—“ Amy whimpers again, eyes still on the ceiling “—and now for violating my privacy and trust, I need you all to leave,” Holt says to them.

“Even me, sir?!” Terry asks indignantly.

Holt hesitates for a moment, “No, you can stay, but you two,” he says, eyes on Amy and Jake, “I am very disappointed in you,”

Amy whimpers again, and Jake sighs, “Aren’t you always, Cap?”

“I said get out, Peralta,”

“Right, you got it,” Jake says quickly, half running out of the room; Amy follows him, her steps heavy with disappointment in herself; Terry follows the pair.

“Sargent,” Holt says, just before Terry leaves the bedroom.

“Yes, Captain?”

Holt points at Cheddar, still tucked under Terry’s arm. “The dog,”

“Oh, right,” Terry chuckles nervously and hands him back, nodding awkwardly to both Holt and Kevin.

“Well, what were you saying?” Kevin asks his husband once Terry has left.

 

* * *

 

Jake and Amy walk awkwardly side by side, away from the Captain’s house. It’s dark, and the sky is dotted with a stars; the street lamps are light dimly, not in a creepy or dull way, more in a romantic way.

“So,” Jake breaks silence, “should we, um, talk?”

Amy breathes in. “Yeah, we probably should.”

“Over here,” Jake points to a bench, by a street lamp, further up the street, and the two walk up to it and sit together.

Amy fiddles with her hands like she does when she’s nervous, turning them over and over; Jake sits, jiggling his leg up and down slightly, staring determinedly ahead at the opposite side of the street; neither wants to be the first to talk.

“I… uh… I kissed you,” Amy finally says, her voice quiet and breathless; they still aren’t looking at each other.

“And I kissed you back,” Jake murmurs after a moment.

“Yeah,” Amy breathes into the night; she turns to look at Jake, “Jake,”

He turns his head and their eyes meet, and he melts at the sight of her warm brown eyes, crinkling at the corners with a smile.

“I like you, Ames,” he finds himself saying, “romantic stylez,”

“With a ‘z’?” she asks, an attempt to lighten the mood and forget about her suddenly lightening fast heart beating at a ridiculous speed in her chest.

He laughs. “With a ‘z’.”

She gulps, looking away, and sighs, closing her eyes before saying what she knows will hurt him. “I can’t date someone from work, Jake,” she opens her eyes and looks back at him; his face is expressionless, he just nods.

“I get that,”

“And especially not you, because you’re not just my colleague, you’re also one of my best friends, Jake,” she says earnestly, “and I couldn’t handle wrecking that.”

Jake smiles sadly, nodding again.

“And I know I kissed you first,” Amy continues, “and I’m… I’m just— I’m sorry,”

He smiles, less sad this time, “Really, Ames, it’s fine,”

She lets out a sigh of relief. “Friends?”

“The best, according to you,” he teases, an attempt to jump back into their old ways — it works.

Amy grins. “I’m never gonna live that down am I?”

“Never, I’m going to bring it up every time you say something bad about me,”

She beams at him, lighting up the dimly lit street; it doesn’t matter what she just said about being friends, he can see the truth in her eyes and he smiles back.

“I, uh, should probably get back to my car,” she says after a moment.

“I’ll walk you,” Jake offers.

They walk to her car in silence, but a comfortable one, rather than the awkward one from before.

When they reach her car, Amy turns and smiles at Jake, but there’s something sad in her expression. “You’re a good guy, Jake,”

He has no idea how to respond to that. “Uh, you too, good guy, no, girl — woman,” he stutters.

Amy laughs, before the same sadness returns; she leans up and kiss him quickly on the cheek, “I’ll see you tomorrow,”

“Yeah,” Jake mumbles, slightly stunned, “tomorrow,”

As she gets in her car and drives away he watches, his heart aching and grinding his teeth; then with sad determination, he walks back to his own car.


	2. Tactical Village

The problem with kissing your colleague and then deciding to not do anything about it, is that you still kissed.

It’s an even bigger when you like said colleague, an even bigger problem when your best friend seems to think you’re destined to be together, and an even bigger problem when your sergeant walked in on the two of you making out and now seems to think you’re sleeping together.

The day at work after the party, Jake discovers all three of these problems.

He walks into the precinct two minutes early (he’d been hoping to get there before Amy), to find Amy already sitting at her desk — he’d have to get there more than a few minutes to beat Amy.

“Hi P-Peralta!” she greets him, her voice higher than he’d ever heard it before, as he sits down at his desk.

“Hey Santiago,” he replies, consciously keeping his voice low and avoiding looking her directly in the eye. He can feel Terry’s eyes on him, and spins around in his desk chair. “Hey Tear Bear!” he says over enthusiastically.

“Peralta, Santiago, I need to speak to you in the conference room,” he says to the two of them, standing up.

“About?!” Amy asks in the same high voice.

“Your previous case,” Terry tells them.

They follow him into the conference room, and as soon as they two of them have entered, he shuts the door and draws all the blinds closed.

“Oh god, this isn’t about our previous case is it?” Amy whimpers.

“Good detective work, Santiago,” Terry says to her, and then to the two of them, “sit.” he gestures and the two chairs in the front; they slide into them like two children who have been sent to seen the principal.

“Now, Terry loves love,” he begins, and Amy whimpers again, placing her hands over her ears.

“Oh god,” she mutters to herself.

“But he also loves maintaining a professional work environment,” Terry continues, “and that includes being professional when at the Captain’s house,”

“Terry, it was a one time thing, okay?” Jake tells him. “We kissed and it’s never gonna happen again.”

Amy nods her head vehemently in agreement, taking her hands carefully away from her ears, as if scared a bomb might go off.

Terry doesn’t look convinced. “I’m not sure how gullible you think I am, Peralta, everyone in the squad knew this would happen, we’ve had a betting pool going since day one,”

“You have a betting pool about when we’ll get together?” Jake asks with disbelief.

“It was Gina’s idea, and not something Terry is proud of,”

“Of course it was Gina’s idea,” Jake mutters, before adding to Terry, “Out of curiosity when did Gina place her bet?”

“The night of your date,”

“Oh my god, that’s why she gave me the tip about that prostitute ring, she wanted me to win,"

"Look, this isn't about who placed bets when–"

"When did you put your bet on?"

"Peralta!" Terry snaps.

"Right, sorry," Jake says quickly, pushing his chair back slightly with his feet so it made a scraping sound against the floor.

"I just need you two to remain professional in this new circumstance, I have no doubt that you will, Santiago, but Peralta on the other hand..."

"Terry, like we said, it was a one time thing, never gonna happen again, because Amy finds me devastatingly handsome, and I find her repulsive," Jake tells him.

“It’s true, Sarge!” Amy says earnestly, "The first part, not the second part." she adds quickly, shooting a glare at Jake.

Jake gestures to Amy. “See, would Santiago ever lie for me?”

Terry doesn’t respond, still looking unconvinced (he's watched these two dance around each other for years now, he knows this is just more than a kiss, even if they don't.

“Sarge, we are not sleeping together," Jake says as a last resort.

"Why would you even bring that up?" Amy asks him, bewildered.

"Because he was thinking it!" Jake gestures to Terry.

"I was not, Jake," Terry says, starting to sound tired.

"Yes you were, I could see you thinking, 'Jake and Amy have so much sexual tension, Jake and Amy must be sleeping together,' well we're not, and if we were the title of our sex tape would be 'We're Not Sleeping Together,' which doesn't exist because we're not sleeping together!" Jake finishes triumphantly, pointing his index finger proudly at Terry.

"You make... no sense, whatsoever," Terry says in an exasperated tone.

"Thank you!" Jake says happily.

"That was not a compliment, Jake,"

"Yes it was, I was confusing you into giving up!"

"We'll let the record state–" Terry starts.

"There is no record," Jake says in bewilderment.

"–That you were the one who said you and Amy have sexual tension–"

"I was saying what you were thinking!" Jake interjects.

"–You were saying what you thought I was thinking," Terry corrects him.

"No I was saying what you thought that I thought that you–“

“And Terry is officially done, just don’t make out at work or at anyone’s house from work,” Terry tells them.

“Does that mean we can’t make out at each other’s house?” Jake asks, as Terry leaves.

Terry ignores him, walking out of the conference room.

“Let the record state that I successfully confused you into leaving!” Jake calls after him, as he shuts the door behind him. “He’s gone,” he mutters to himself, before saying to Amy, “Well that went about as well as it could’ve gone,”

“That did not go well, Jake!” Amy says hotly. “A superior officer just talked to us about sleeping together, and the whole squad has placed bets on when it'll happen! There’s no way I’m ever gonna make captain at this rate!”

“Ames, relax, it’s not like he’s gonna tell anyone, okay?”

She breathes in and nods, beginning to relax, “True,”

“See? It’s all good,” Jake says to her, but his voice sounds lightly strained.

“Are we?” Amy asks him suddenly, eyeing him closely.

“Are we what?”

“Are we good?” she asks him seriously.

“Yeah, of course,” he tells her earnestly, and he smiles, but his eyes look sad.

“Even though I…” she trails off; her eyes still locked on his.

“It doesn’t matter Ames,” he responds, and the sadness from his eyes seems to have seeped into his voice ever so slightly. “We’re best friends,” he adds playfully, the sadness replaced with teasing, “we’re always good.”

“I’m already regretting saying that,” she says exasperatedly, but she’s smiling.

 

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks things seem to go back to normal, but Amy can’t help looking over at Jake more than she usually would, and she also begins to notice when he’s looking at her — every time she catches him, he just grins jokily and says something stupid (one time he just threw a scrunched up ball of paper at her and laughed). Yet she notices a change in their behaviour, anytime they slip to far back into their old ways, when the banter becomes too flirty, and the looks too meaningful, Jake becomes suddenly awkward and distances himself from her for the rest of the day. So she’ll watch him from a far, and wonder if it’d be different if she had never allowed her heart to take over at that one moment at Holt’s party, whilst also wondering what they could’ve been if she’d let her heart take over that whole night, rather than switching back to her brain, because no matter how much she fought it, she does like Jake, _romantic stylez_.

 

* * *

 

It's a few weeks later by the time Tactical Village Day rolls around; it' safe to say both Jake and Amy have some steam they want to blow off, and Tactical Village Day is notorious for being just that. 

She sits with Jake and Charles briefly on the bus on the way to the Tactical Village, but leaves them as she can feel her and Jake becoming too flirty (it wasn't just Jake doing the distancing, even though she doesn't want to admit), and as Charles starts saying gross Charles things.

She sits down next to Rosa. "Hi,"

Rosa grunts in reply, and Amy grimaces, not that she'd really expected anything different from her.

"What was going on with you and Jake over there?" Rosa asks after almost a minute of silence has passed.

"What?! Me and Jake?! Nothing!" Amy replies, her voice too high pitched and defensive.

"Okay, then," Rosa replies, not at all concerned.

"There's nothing going in between me and Jake! Why would you - or anyone - even think that?" Amy rants.

"Okay, there's noting going on, jeez," Rosa says, annoyed now.

"Jake and I are just friends! Nothing is going on!"

"Wow, cool it, you're awfully defensive for something that's not happening," Rosa points out. 'I'm going to go sit somewhere else, you're being weird," she adds, leaving for another seat.

"What?! I'm not being defensive about anything, Rosa!" Amy calls out after her; Rosa just rolls her eyes, but other than that she ignores her. Amy glares at her for a moment, before slouching down in her seat, sulking.

Nothing was happening, nothing was going to happen.

She couldn't date someone from work, she just couldn't.

 

* * *

 

"Amy Santiago," a man says from behind Jake.

Jake sees Amy's eyes light up, as she walks over and hugs the man man. "Teddy!" she exclaims happily, and Jake feels his heart sink in his stomach.

Teddy, who Jake can't help think is rather boring looking, is with the eight-two, and Amy tells Jake, they met at code camp.

"Who's that guy?" Rosa asks her as Teddy leaves, and Jake mentally thanks her for asking so he didn't have to.

"Uh, that was Teddy," Amy tells Rosa, and Jake feels Amy glance at him almost apologetically before continuing, "we went on, like, five dates last year, but he was stationed out in Queens, so it kind of fizzled."

It's Jake's turn to glance at her.

Just brilliantly, he thinks to himself sarcastically, just perfect.

Needless to say Jake is very ready to blow off some steam by the time the eight-two have finished. He'd spent the majority of his time before intervening Amy and Teddy, not in a rude or possessive way, he just wanted to get to know Teddy, that was all (or at least that's what he'd told Charles when he'd asked).

But, of course, Teddy emerges from the course and brags to Amy about how he just broke the record for quickest time.

Two can play at that game, Jake thought; the perfect plan seemed to have formed in Jake's mind, which had the maturity level of a fourth grader trying to impress his crush on the playground: Break the record for the quickest time, not only beating Teddy, but all those beforehand, and, in the process, impressing the one and only Amy Santiago.

It works, sort of.

They beat the course record, even if Jake did have to go 'upsy-downsies', and Amy seems impressed, but when he suggests the all go over to Shaw's for a drink, she falters.

"Oh, uh, T- Teddy asked me out to dinner," she tells Jake awkwardly, not quite meeting his eyes, "y'know, to catch up," she adds quickly; her tone almost apologetic.

Jake pretends his stomach isn't twisting into a thousand different knots, and smiles, though it comes out as more of a grimace. "Oh! Okay!" he says too brightly. "Maybe you can come by afterwards,"

"Yeah, maybe," she echoes hollowly.

 They stare at each other for a moment, in which Jake struggles to remember how to breathe.

"Jake," Amy murmurs, reaching out a hand, but Jake steps back; Amy gulps and withdraws her hand.

"It's fine, Ames, have- have a good dinner," he says to her, attempting to sound positive before turing and walking away.

Amy stays rooted to the spot. "Thanks," she breathes to quiet for Jake to hear.

 

* * *

 

Jake can't enjoy himself at Shaw's, no matter how hard her tries, all he can think about is Amy and Teddy. He excuses himself from the rest of the squad, by saying he doesn't feel well. He hops in his car, and is bout to drive directly home, before changing tact and heading back to the precinct to pick up some case files to work on tonight, to help take his mind off Amy and Teddy.

He is flicking through the files on his desk when his phone rings; to his surprise his phone says  _Amy Santiago_.

"Ames?"

"Jake, where are you?" 

"I'm at the the precinct," he replies, confused to as why she wants to know.

"Oh, well, I'm at yours-"

"You're at mine?" Jake asks, now very confused. "Why aren't you with-"

"Do you want me to come to the precinct?" she asks, interrupting him. She knows what he was going to ask, and she'd rather not talk about it over the phone.

"Uh, no, I'm just about to leave, I'll see you in a bit," Jake tells her.

"Okay," Amy says quietly, "see you,"

There is a moment where neither of them hangs up and it's just their quiet breathing, but then Jake hangs up, stuffs some files into his bag and heads quickly out of the precinct; his heart beating wildly against his chest.

 

* * *

  

"Hey," he says, waking up to her; she's standing alone in the hallway, by the door to his apartment, "what are you doing here?"

Subtext: Why aren't you with Teddy?

She smiles, and reaches into her bag. "I wanted to give you this," she pulls out a children's karate trophy and hands it to him. "For coolest kill,"

He takes it from her, staring from the trophy to her, amazed. "I won?"

Amy laughs. "No, well, you might win, but you can just buy children's karate trophies, and I thought you deserved it for the 'upsy-downsies' kill, not many people could do that,"

Jake points a finger at her, mock accusingly. "Hey! I said never to mention that again!"

They both laugh for a moment, but it subsides, leaving only awkward silence behind.

"Do you, uh, wanna come inside?" Jake asks, gesturing to his apartment.

Amy nods, "Yeah, sure,"

He lets them in, and places the trophy in the middle of the window sill, aligning it careful.

"There we go," he says to Amy, pointing at it, "doesn't it look good there?"

"Yeah, it does," she says with a smile and a nod.

"Um, so, you want something to drink?" he asks, not really sure about her purpose for being here.

She shakes her head. "No thanks,"

The awkward silence settles over them again, as they stare at each other.

"Ames," Jake says finally, "what are you doing here? Why aren't you out with Teddy?"

Amy gulps, blinks, and inhales, as if working herself up to saying something. "I was out with Teddy, and all I did was compare everything he did, to everything you would do, because, Jake, I wanted to be out with you, not him, and when I realised that, I left. I went to the bar, but the others said you'd gone home, so I came here, because..." she trails off unsure of what to say next.

Jake is staring at her, his breath caught in his throat, and his heart beating like a drum, as he takes in his words.

"I take back what I said before," Amy says quietly, stepping closer towards Jake, "I can't date anyone from work, but it's not especially you, it's _except_ you," she's barely millimetres away from him now, and her voice is barely a whisper.

His eyes sparkle with a smile, the corners of his mouth twitching ever so slightly. "What are you saying, Ames?" he murmurs.

Her eyes dart from his eyes to his lips, "I'm saying," she whispers, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately. He puts his arms around her waist, pulling her closer just like he did last time, and it's just as good, if not better. He kisses her with everything, with every single moment that has built up to this.

When they finally break apart, both are grinning, and they laugh slightly, their arms still wrapped around each other.

"Is this your version of a booty call?" Jake teases, raising his eye brows at her.

"Shut up, Peralta," she laughs, leaning in for another kiss.

"Gladly," he says, before pressing his lips to hers once more.

 

 


	3. Charges and Specs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the last chapter! it takes up right where we left off :)  
> i hope y'all enjoy

“One thing,” Amy says, as they lie side by side in his bed, and she traces his jaw line gently with her finger.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“Can we not tell anyone? At least not at first? I really don’t want anyone winning money off this or interrogating us.”

He leans towards her and presses his lips to hers briefly. “Trust me, the last thing I want is Charles interrogating us non stop about our rel—“ but he falters on the word, a lump suddenly in his throat.

Amy’s eyes search his. “Relationship?” she prompts.

“You’re calling this a relationship?” he asks her carefully.

“You want it to be?”

“Yeah, I do,” he says, and she doesn’t think she’s ever heard him sound so serious before.

She smiles at him, and stares into his brown eyes, and a sense of complete happiness washes over her. “You totally would love Charles interrogating you about us,” she says after a moment.

“I would not!” he protests.

“You so would! You love being in the centre of attention!”

“I don’t love it, I just happen to always be in it! I can’t help if I’m the light in everyone’s life!”

She giggles, before kissing him again.

* * *

 The next couple of weeks manage to pass mostly smoothly; the one time they come close to being found out is when Charles comes over to Jake’s apartment unexpectedly and Amy spent a whole half-hour in Jake’s bathroom.

At least, it’s all going smoothly until Jake gets himself fired from the NYPD, or that’s certainly what it looks like to Amy.

“Jake?!” Amy squaks, walking anxiously towards him in the mostly parking lot.

Jake, sitting on the hood of his car, gets up and walks towards her. “Ames, hey,”

“What the hell happened in there? Did Holt ask you to get suspended?!” she sounds almost angry.

“No, he asked me to get fired.” Jake tells her, and her eyes widen.

“What?! Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m kind of freaking out! He said to do it, and the next thing I knew, I was just yelling!” Jake says, just as confused as her.

“What were you yelling about?”

“I don’t even know. Their mothers’?”

“Oh my god, Jake,” Amy says, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder; she opens her mouth to say something else, but there is a bark behind them, and Amy jumps away from Jake, and turns to face the approachers

“Peralta!” it’s Holt; he introduces Jake to Special Agent Larson, and Amy listens as they talk about the Ianucci crime family (“That’s one of the best crime families,” Jake tells her, like she didn’t know), but she zones out to process after the agent says they want Jake to go undercover, and Jake agrees without so much as a blink.

_Jake, undercover… Jake, gone… for a long time_

She half listens as Jake spouts off a ridiculously long winded back story that involves an oil rig and prostitutes, only coming back to reality at the words ‘ _this could be very dangerous’._

“So please, take some time, and get back to us in the next 48 hours, we’d like to commence the operation as soon as possible,” continues Larson.

Jake nods, and looks over at Amy, searching her eyes, silently asking her opinion. 

She looks back at him. _Go_ , she tells him.

“I accept!” he declares dramatically, and the agent looks taken aback.

“You sure you don’t need anymore time to consider?” Larson queries.

“Nope! Eyes closed, head first, can’t lose!” Jake says gleefully.

“I don’t think that’s the expression,” Holt tells him.

“Can you just let me have this?” Jake asks excitedly.

“Well in that case, we’ll run you through the assignment.” Larson says, beginning to walk away. “Just follow me.”

“Um, we’ll talk later, yeah?” Jake murmurs to her, slipping his hand into hers.

Amy, who can feel Captain Holt watching them suspiciously out of the corner of his eye, nods. “Okay.” she replies quietly.

Jake squeezes her hand reassuringly, before letting go, and following Larson and Holt out of the car park.

Amy watches them go, sinking back onto the car hood, feeling slightly lost. She’s proud of Jake, she is, it’s an incredible assignment, but a part of her — a selfish part probably — wants Jake to stay here, with her, where he’s safe and she gets to see him everyday and roll her eyes at whatever gross thing he is eating for lunch that day.

She’s been waiting for a about an hour, when Jake comes jogging back.

“Ames,” he says with relief, “you waited, I… I hoped you would,”

She shrugs, “You wanted to talk, right?” 

“Um,” Jake looks around the parking lot, “Holt will be here soon, and he wants to talk to us all back at the precinct,”

Amy looks at him for a moment, before pulling him towards her by his shirt and kissing him deeply.

“So, talk after?” she asks him.

“Yeah, sounds good,” Jake breathes.

“Peralta! Santiago! We’re heading back to the precinct now,” Holt calls, as he strides into the parking lot.

* * *

Once Jake has made his grand exit from the precinct (which included kicking numerous bins), he meets Amy in a supply closet downstairs, which they decided was the least conspicuous place to meet.

“Hey,” Jake says.

“Hey,” Amy replies.

The two stand in silence, neither knowing exactly what to say.

"Ames?" he murmurs, and she looked up at him.  "Are you really okay with this?"

"Of course," she insists with a smile, giving him a playful shove in the chest, "it's an amazing opportunity, Jake."

"I know, but what does it mean... for us?" he asks carefully.

"That I'll worry about you like crazy," Amy replies, slightly confused the question.

"So you... you don't want to break up?" Jake asks with relief.

"What? Jake? That's what you thought?" she looks at him incredulously. "No, of course not."

He shuts his eyes and breathes deeply, pulling Amy into a hug. She melts into him, shutting her eyes and breathing him in, savouring  him.

"I'm gonna miss you so much, Ames," he says softly.

"It's gonna be weird without you," she echoes, as they let go of each other. "You've always been there, since I started working, it's just... it's gonna be weird," 

"I know," he murmurs, "but I'll be back, before you know it."

She looks up at him, before kissing him, and she realises, at some point during the kiss, that this is their  _last kiss_ , at least for a while. She can tell by the way he pulls her closer and the way she clutches at his hair, their heavy breathing and racing hearts beating against each other, by the desperation of it all, like they're drowning and desperate to breathe. They kiss each other with everything, until there's nothing.

They both need a moment to recover when they finally stop, to catch their breath; neither of them have ever had a kiss like that.

Jake takes his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. "I... I should go," he whispers apologetically.

"Jake, you need to promise me that you'll come back in one piece, okay? And that you won't do anything stupid," she says seriously, her eyes pleading.

He takes her hand and squeezes it. "I promise, Ames," and then he is gone.

* * *

She meets Rosa at Shaw's later that night (though it's early in the morning by then). Amy slumps into the booth and Rosa slides a beer over to her; Amy takes a swig from it gratefully.

"So, Peralta undercover," Rosa says casually.

Amy looks up at her suspiciously, before groaning in reply and taking another gulp of beer.

"Are you-" Rosa hesitates and makes an expression as if swallowing something disgusting "-okay?"

"Are you asking me how I am?" Amy asks with a laugh, sitting up a bit straighter.

Rosa rolls her eyes. "Don't make me ask again."

Amy shrugs, not meeting Rosa's eyes, and fiddling distractedly with the label on her beer. "Yeah, I'll be okay," she looks up at Rosa and smiles, "thank you."

Rosa rolls her eyes again. "Don't go and get all sappy on me,"

"I just thanked you!" Amy protests.

"Well, you don't need to. We have each other's backs, remember?"

Amy sighs and shakes her head with slight exasperation, but she smiles all the same. "Yeah I remember." She holds out her beer, "Cheers?"

Rosa smiles and clinks her beer with Amy's. "Cheers."

 


End file.
